Let's get to those tickets first, since time is most definitely of the essence: If you're looking forward to seeing The Dark Knight Rises on opening weekend (July 20), you may want to head on over to Fandango and snag a few while you still can. According to /Film, the website began soft selling tickets, including late night Thursday, back in January, which was after theaters began selling them directly when the first trailer premiered alongside Mission: Impossible 3 -- Ghost Protocol, and many of the United States' largest cities have already sold out.

A quick perusal at theaters near me confirms this is only mostly true for The IMAX Experience version of the film, but it's worth pointing out because the latest commercial for Rises is announcing advanced ticket sales rather loudly...

I definitely like how this one opens, playing with the idea that Batman was indeed successful in eliminating much of Gotham's criminal element due to his activities in The Dark Knight, which implies that Bane's promised reckoning is perhaps merely filling a necessary vacuum. That also indicates there's going to be a real arc in this trilogy, apparently bending back to Batman Begins. My only real concern about Christopher Nolan's Bat-films was that they might not feel like a natural trilogy -- like Lord of the Rings, both Star Wars, and Back to the Future, albeit more respectable -- but it looks like that was a silly thing to worry about. Also, also, The Bat looks pretty cool.

One thing this promo was definitely lacking was more Catwoman. Thankfully, if you've got a fever that only Anne Hathaway in a skintight catsuit can cure, there's a new character poster to remedy that:

Rob Payne also writes the comic The Unstoppable Force, tweets on the Twitter @RobOfWar, and his wares can be purchased here and here (if you're into that sort of thing). Of course, he already has his ticket; why do you always ask questions for which you already know the answer?

For me, Anne Hathaway in a skintight catsuit usually has the effect of causing a fever rather than curing one.

Miss Laaw-yuhr

Somebody's definitely erecting a batpole for that catsuit.(Sorry, could not resist.)

Fredo

It made too much thematic sense to not have someone fill in the vacuum of underworld power in Gotham. Back in 08, when rumors were floating of The Penguin's possible involvement, I thought that this was where Nolan would be headed -- with Batman, Dent, Gordon and then The Joker all wiping out the criminal heads of Gotham, there'd be a hole for someone to fill and a war for Gotham over who that would be.